Nelson and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra in Riga

By Alain Lompech, 05 September 2021

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“Living through this musical experience is a privilege”

Reviewed at Latvian National Opera, Riga on 4 September 2021

Wagner, Die Walküre (extraits : acte I, Adieux de Wotan)

Andris Nelsons, Conductor

Christine Goerke, Sieglinde

Klaus Florian Vogt, Siegmund

Günther Groissböck, Wotan, Hunding

Bayreuth Festival Orchestra

The ghost of Maria Callas: Greek National Opera's Medea at Epidaurus

Anna Bogdanova, 20th June

To rebuild Maria Callas's 1961 Medea is to invite the cruellest comparisons in opera. For most of a single night at Epidaurus, Greek National Opera withstands it, but then comes the final act...

****1

10 Days in a Madhouse receives Canadian premiere

John Gilks, 16th June

10 Days in a Madhouse is a musically and dramatically excellent but disturbing insight into conditions in a women’s asylum brought to life in Toronto by an excellent production.

****1

Galați Cenerentola lights up the Bucharest stage

Peter Quantrill, 15th June

First class young voices and bewitchingly stylised designs shine through the murk at the Bucharest Opera Festival.

****1

L’Orfeo, the world’s first great opera, premieres at Glyndebourne

Roy Westbrook, 14th June

One element of the Orpheus myth is about creativity, so at Glyndebourne, William Kentridge sets Monteverdi’s opera in an artist's studio,

****1

Darkness without passion: Damiano Michieletto’s Carmen at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 12th June

Despite Michieletto's visual gloom, the evening is redeemed by Myung-whun Chung’s masterful conducting and a cast that brings conviction to a production that rarely trusts the opera’s own dramatic power.

**111

Monteverdi and Ulisse return happily to Garsington Opera

David Karlin, 12th June

Laurence Cummings and John Caird’s second Garsington exploration of the operas of Monteverdi brims with wonderfully playing and singing in an attractive setting.

****1

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Alain Lompech

Pendant trente ans, Alain Lompech, né en 1954, a été critique musical et journaliste au Monde de la musique puis au Monde, dont il a été chef des pages « Art et Spectacles » puis chef d'édition, tout en tenant la chronique « Jardins » du quotidien. Il a produit de nombreuses émissions sur France Musique, station dont il a été le directeur adjoint et chef des programmes, et où il est l'un des membres réguliers de « La Tribune des critiques de disques ». Il publie chaque mois des critiques de disques dans le mensuel Diapason. Alain Lompech a publié le premier volume des Grands pianistes du XXe siècle, chez Buchet-Chastel, et travaille à la rédaction du deuxième volume.

Andris Nelsons and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra triumphant in Riga